KirkHuth delivered a WIN to Tia Maria Torres of Pit Bulls & Parolees and the Villalobos Rescue Center! The Complainant demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars from VRC and possession of the “Crescent City 5” has been tossed out of court. This courtroom success means that 5 rescue dogs will get to find their forever home. We are incredibly proud to have Tia and her animals as our clients and to fight on their behalf. Her passion and rescue efforts are an inspiration. Thank you to our Raechel Badalamenti and Elizabeth Morris who worked vigilantly on this case.
From Tia Torres Facebook:
ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIONAL BATTLES I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED....IS FINALLY OVER
I've been holding this "secret" for over a year now. In an effort to take me down as well as the rescue, I have been in the fight of my life. But now I can finally tell the entire story. For the past year and a half, I have been entangled in the most stressful and painful legal battle and I was ordered to be silenced when the opposing team's attorney had a "gag order" placed on me. My guess....because I had all the evidence it would take to expose the truth about her clients. Well as of today the battle is over and now I am at liberty to speak the truth.
Three years ago, I opened my heart and doors to a struggling Pit Bull rescue from the Detroit, MI. area. They quickly needed a place to go with their 50-60 Pit Bulls and I offered them a temporary location here in New Orleans. One and a half years later I would be forcing them to leave for too many reasons to explain here. But when they left, behind inside the building was carnage, unlike anything I've ever seen. Dead dog bodies were strewn everywhere, trash, feces, urine, and quite frankly, I have never seen a scene like this in my entire career. ( I originally posted this story on our FB page back in May 2018)
In addition to the havoc they left behind, they also stole (5) of our dogs (details to follow). We did end up getting our dogs back and they were eventually charged with animal cruelty (a current Michigan case), stolen property (related to my dogs) and also a felon with a gun (also part of a criminal Michigan case). But apparently fighting a criminal case was not enough to keep them busy because a little over a year ago, they also decided to sue me in civil court to get OUR dogs back! Yes, you read this correctly. The two people charged with animal cruelty were suing me to get OUR/VRC dogs back into their custody. Still shaking my head on this one.
Again without going into all the details now, this past year has been emotionally and financially draining. Having to fight and fight and fight not only the court system and "going through the process" but the rubbish spewed by these two people and their legal counsel. In the end, $100K was spent on saving these (5) dogs (To re-coop some of our money, I will actually be selling off some of our assets which will be shown in a future/separate post) And I had to fight because they were not going to give up (again reasons too much to detail here/now)
So TODAY, I finally got the words I've been waiting to hear for such a long time: CASE DISMISSED; meaning, the ridiculous lawsuit against me was over and now the "Crescent City 5" can finally get homes of their own. They are no longer being held hostage by these vindictive people and their abuse of the legal system.
But I also know that so many of you were vested in this story when I first exposed them back in May of 2018. So it is because of this, that I will be doing a FB LIVE feed this Saturday with all the irrefutable evidence and the emotional turmoil that myself, these dogs and Villalobos have been through for the past year and a half.
A huge thank you to our kick ass "girl power" legal team Kirk, Huth, Lange & Badalamenti PLC.
In honor of the "Crescent City 5" (Tituba, Phantom, Avila, Wild Turkey & Bella) and their bright future and also in memory of Carolyn J Penn-Martin who's love for these dogs never waivered.
For the dogs,Tia Torres
